I will have a bachelors degree in accounting and a 3.2 GPA. Will I ever be able to get at least a 80K job

...with enough years in work with my GPA/degree

I am about to graduate, and I eventually want to earn 80K in a few more years or decades. However, I think it will be tough since so many graduates have degrees in my field or better.

Do you think this is a realistic goal? What are some ways to do it?

Nope, anything less than a 4.0 GPA and you will never get a job.

So drop out and go find a job at McD

/sarcasm

If you know the right people, sure. If you didn't spend a whole lot of time during college making connections with people and getting some ins at higher-paid firms, then you can probably expect to eventually make between forty and sixty thousand dollars a year. If you did, then you can expect to eventually make between sixty and a hundred and sixty thousand depending on how prestigious the places you made connections with are. Your GPA really isn't relevant to employers, only to grad schools.

Depends on the field and where you live

It's about having connections.

Build a network around criminal elitists and become accountants for them.

@theone86: That depends. During my las interview, they asked what my GPA was and I said 3.6 and they asked, "Why so low?". It wasn't a deal breaker, but if it's less than 4.0, they wanted to understand why.

This. I work in corporate IT consulting. Without getting into too many specifics of my own finances, I'm very comfortable without a college degree but I work in an industry that prioritizes work experience over formal education, and as a consultant the hours I work for clients generate revenue for my employer so consulting compensation can be quite generous. What kind of job are you looking for?

-Byshop

The only jobs I applied to that care about GPA are government jobs; they actually want your transcripts, believe it or not.

No private-sector job has ever asked for my GPA or my transcript, it's only what kind of degree you have. Focus less on your GPA and just finish school.

Take advantage of your accounting degree; learn to invest wisely and find a job you enjoy enough that allows you to live comfortably while saving enough. If you're smart and a little lucky, you'll be able to retire before you're 60 with your house paid off.

I cannot emphasize investments and/or a ROTH 401k (or whatever one is taxed now, not taxed when your retire) enough. If a job offers vesting immediately or within less than a year, that's a good thing. Any job that will match you up to or beyond 4% (most I've heard of is 5%) your investment is great.

Don't underestimate job satisfaction; you'll be spending 40+ hours a week working, a good chunk of your waking life, so enjoy it. The job that pays you 80k might not be worth it if you don't enjoy it...but if it pays 180k, well, that's a sacrifice I could make haha

Yeah, I wasn't even a very good high school student and I can't say it's ever come up. I worked Mom and Pops until I had built up work experience, skills, and contacts to get into corporate IT. Four years after that I got an offer for consulting and that's all I've been doing since. Granted, I'm in my 40s and have a career spanning literally more than a quarter century, but for me the idea of any part of my transcript coming up in an interview is pretty laughable. For a college new hire, though, it might come up.

-Byshop

@frogo0: 80K seems like a lot of money for a single job. Unless you're planning on being a doctor or a lawyer I think you might be out of luck. My boyfriend is planning on being a doctor just for that reason. You kind of get capped at low salaries otherwise.

It really depends on the industry, but if you have the skills there are lots of jobs you can get into for at least 80k. Where I am, 80k is a bit above entry level but not much. If you got hired in at 60 or 70 it wouldn't take that long to pass 80k. And that's not even necessarily for a management position. Get a job with an oil and gas company? Hell, I know of companies that paid their tier 1 help desk 100k a year (although that's a bit of an anomaly).

-Byshop

With your degree, that is very likely. Maybe go for an MBA orCPA later.

Jesus. Thats such an odd question imo. What if I graduated 5 years ago, not to mention there are some programs that make it almost impossible to pull a 4. What field are you in if you dont mind me asking? Most jobs ive gotten that required a degree never asked about GPA.

Were you in the FBI or something lol, I know they want 4.0s

The second time I went back to college after getting my associates degree I had a 3.95 GPA my senior year. I quit for two reasons 1. The school was not teaching me what needed to learn (.Net programming) and I was learning that skill just fine on my own and 2. the school was starting to randomly fail people.

anyway...that GPA absolutely helped me. Sure they didnt ask, but they absolutely noticed it and assumed I was brilliant which I actually am not so that was a bit of a problem.

I would've asked them what their GPA was. If 3.6 is low then...I don't even know how to respond.

I swear. I graduated with a 3.29 and I was happy lol. Also I went to a hard school soooo.

Become a CPA: Accounting remains a lucrative profession for those who are qualified, as the average salary of a CPA based in the United States is $119,000 per year, excluding bonuses. Newly qualified CPAs with less than one year of experience earn an average salary of $66,000 per year, and CPAs with more than 20 years of experience average $152,000 per year in salary.

@Mercenary848: Semiconductor Development. I think the question was asked to throw me off guard and see how I would react. You can imagine how some people would be put off by an employer insinuating that a 3.6 is garbage. Others may remain calm and give a formulated answer.

FDA, USDA, etc. Was applying for food inspector jobs.

.....Nice, I think if I had all that power it would get to my head.

In my opinion based on your place it depends. But GPA will create an entrance for you to a job. This point will not create any impact on your salary. You have to start from the bottom to reach the top level. Your salary level will depends on your work experience and your skills. Try to improve your skills first select the best field for you and work much harder for it. You will get your desired payment eventually.

@frogo0: Yes if you learn to develop software

@schu:

???

I am not a software Engineer major

I think if you want to increase your earning cap you need to have a specialisation which is relevant to an industry which is cash rich. All things being equal, you will be paid based on your contribution to the company and if you represent a unique talent which benefits the company you will be rewarded respective to the income you have generated.

Anyone can count beans but to earn alot of money needs creative thinking. Sometimes called creative accounting and it is based on tax avoidance.

I jest a little but that is the majority of what accountants to who are in the private sector at least and not managing small business etc.

You need to research the respective business heavily if you want the reward of a high pay packet which reflects the value you have added to the business.

Each industry will have it's own set of accounting quirks and peculiarities which could save said business money. So even if they are hiring a bean counter you can demonstrate knowledge and enthusiasm by suggesting something they may not have thought of and if they make more money you will be on your way.

@frogo0: what's stopping you?

And they say there's no accounting for bachelors!

yes, but i recommend getting your cpa if it's an option. it will help.

I have friends and family without a high school diploma making $80k a year. I was making $50k a year without a high school diploma before I became disabled. I was a metal model maker. My step dad makes $80k a year running a CMM in aerospace manufacturing.

$80,000 isn't that much. It's sad that kids these days strive for so little

Someone needs to define property....is flipping car park spots defined as property?

Without previous job experience, no. Look more at 40-60k a year. After 3 years if a real job experience, yeah you can get it.

The difference is with a college diploma, after 10 years you can make it to higher corporative positions. That is, there is a margin for growth there. In 99% cases, a person without a high school diploma will never make it to a manager unless it's McDonalds. Without a college diploma, you will be the last in the list for ascension as well. In some 10-20 years he can make to a position of a administrative manager or a treasurer, which will pay 150k a year. In companies like facebook, payrolls may reach up to 500k a year.

@frogo0: First of all, you have to understand that your GPA very rarely plays a role in finding a job. I know a lot of people who got their degrees by barely passing the courses and found jobs no problem—they really aren't being treated any differently than the people with high GPA, because most recruiters know that academic performance shows nothing about anything other than...well, academic performance.

I think if earning a lot if your primary goal, you should have gone the business route. Doing business is how people get extremely rich (and have no time for family, typically). Freelancing/self-employment in the creative industry is also great money. I'm in the audio engineering industry (I work as a mixing/mastering engineer) and a lot of my peers earn six figures a year without going to college/university.

I don't think it's unrealistic to earn 80K a year, but I think you need to do more than just find a job and work. Expand your sources of income by doing other things.

I've heard mixed things about how much employers care about college GPA. Sometimes I hear it's not that important, while other times I hear that applications get filtered out if they're below a certain point, like 3.40 or something like that. Anyway, you're not going to get 80K with an entry level accounting job. Realistically expect about 50K, give or take depending on where you live and stuff. In a few years or so you might be able to increase that a bit, but I don't think you'll hit 80K all that soon if you're just an accountant. Maybe if you move up to a supervisor or something you'll hit that number faster.

You serious? What's the "right" amount of money to strive for?